"Etc."
One of the Soul Returner raised his hand and asked:
"But Gray's contributions are also in the category of inventions and creations. Does that mean those seal engravers would vote for Gray?"
"Then let me ask you—"
[ Ginseng Rooster ] seemed to have anticipated this, and asked the man with a smile:
"Whose living space will Gray's Machine Spirit encroach upon?"
"This..."
The player was speechless, realizing that even with widespread promotion of the Machine Spirit, it seemed unlikely to trigger a wave of unemployment for any particular profession.
Not all Machine Spirit are King of Fall Resistance, I Guess. Although this small fortress is not very old, it can already perform basic self-checks and self-repairs.
However, the Antasia was completely unable to do the same thing.
Even if the Machine Spirit series is fully rolled out and promoted, the vast majority of Machine Spirit will definitely resemble the Antasia more than the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess.
The King of Fall Resistance, I Guess" is a genuine "People's Education Edition" Machine Spirit.
Therefore, a typical Machine Spirit is simply a small AI plugin installed on one's fortress or weapon, from which everyone benefits.
Having figured this out, the player nodded to indicate that there was no problem.
But [ the Ginseng Rooster ] continued to ramble on:
"Using this method, we can weaken Rein's competitiveness to some extent. As for Suolaer, he's an adventurer; we can start with him."
He thought for a moment and said:
" Suolaer's attack should focus on two points. First, he's an adventurer, so he's likely a gambler who excels at speculation and all-in bets. What if he becomes Grand Foundry Master and then orders a faction switch on the spot? He's been to the Skeleton Alliance; what kind of good place is a place full of skeletons? What if he's already been corrupted beforehand?"
"Another point is that this person is decisive and ruthless in his methods, which is certainly an advantage, but it also depends on the situation. We can assume that he has dictatorial tendencies, put the label on him first, and then we can launch an attack openly."
"Isn't this a bit far-fetched?"
One person asked in confusion.
"No, that's how elections are. Trust me, there's no room for humility. Votes are truly first come, first served."
After hearing this, the players' eyes were filled with admiration.
At that moment, they finally understood why [the author of Do Some Farm Work "] had stepped down and allowed this writer of unofficial history to take his place.
[ Ginseng Rooster ] He's really good at personal attacks!
"Great ideas! So, who's the last one?"
The topic finally turned to Luke Aoziben, but unexpectedly, after carefully examining the information, [ the Ginseng Rooster ] shook his head:
"This person is a bit too troublesome."
He explained:
"Whether it's Rein or Suolaer, I can find angles to attack them."
"But Luke is, at least in the mainstream perception of the Graycast Corridor, a perfect being."
"As a force that has been at war since its inception, he is a war hero, and we cannot attack him."
"At the same time, Luke did a great job on defense, and we couldn't attack him recklessly."
"Furthermore, he spearheaded the establishment of new satellite cities; we can't really accuse him of being a warmonger..."
The crowd's expressions immediately turned somewhat disappointed.
After [ Ginseng Rooster ]'s analysis, everyone suddenly realized that Luke was the real big boss.
"What should we do then?"
Someone asked, with a hint of resentment in their voice.
"Snort."
[ Ginseng Rooster ] gave a disdainful smile:
"We support him!"
"Ah?"
Everyone was immediately astonished:
Are we supposed to help our opponents?
[ Ginseng Rooster ] shook his head:
What we're going to do is called 'praise in name only'.
"We must admit that Luke Aoziben is an ideal successor to the Grand Foundry Master. He is strong, steady, and has a good level of strategy. If I were a local, I would also vote for him."
"However, a person who is good at war is not necessarily good at governance. Leading the establishment of satellite cities only shows that his mind is not entirely focused on war, but does not mean that he actually has any strong political skills."
"So while we're promoting him, we need to try to guide him to other positions, like Minister of War or something. Of course, I just came up with that name randomly, but the point is to keep Luke away from the position of Grand Foundry Master."
So that's how it is. To put it bluntly, it's a combination of overt praise and subtle criticism, designed to mislead people into believing that while Luke is a good person, he's unsuitable to be Grand Foundry Master.
That's a great idea.
However, as the [ Ginseng Rooster ] plan became clearer, the Soul Returner also discovered a small blind spot—
Rein is no good, Suolaer is no good, and Luke is no good either.
So what makes Gray capable of doing it?
So many people are unsuitable to Grand Foundry Master, what qualifications do you, a mere traveling merchant, have...?
With that in mind, one player naturally raised the question.
[ The Ginseng Rooster ] nodded, and said calmly:
"Because he is kind."
"Hey buddy, are you kidding me?"
One player's mouth was practically crooked with a grin, eager to hear what other insights [ the Ginseng Rooster ] had to offer.
[ Ginseng Rooster ], however, appeared confident and said:
"Our core philosophy regarding Gray can be summarized in one sentence: 'The highest good is like water, which benefits all things without striving.'"
He lightly stroked an imaginary beard with one hand and waved an imaginary feather fan with the other, as if possessed by a heroic spirit, and uttered his carefully crafted slogan:
"Inventing Machine Spirit, a secret locked in a vault."
"A merchant with Machine Spirit can escape even when encountering Corpse Tide."
" Machine Spirit, searching for its way home Floating Corpse Sea."
"Combat Machine Spirit, and ample ammunition is available in the Warp."
"..."
A long silence fell over the deck of the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess.
The three Soul Returner took turns asking questions, stood side by side without moving, like penguins huddling together to resist the Antarctic winds, or like three quails hiding their bodies.
After a long while, one of them murmured to himself:
"I was saying, back when the Lao Liu brothers heard about the Longzhong Plan, weren't we the same kind of people?"
"Not that surprising."
At that moment, the three of them felt a small crack appear in their worldview. Could one person really come up with so many usable propaganda lines in such a short time?
What was the real-world purpose of this old silver coin?
Could he be the head of a professional public relations team who specializes in creating online buzz to promote others or divert public attention to cover up something?
After an unknown amount of time, [ the Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] silently gave a thumbs up and uttered a word that he rarely said:
"Awesome."
[ Ginseng Rooster ] was also quite satisfied with his speech. He looked at the people in front of him and asked slowly:
Do you all understand what I mean?
"Clear!"
The four Soul Returner erupted in a confident shout in unison.